Aye Up Mum, We made a video

What a long day had by all. Today saw us Barricades boys travel over to the outskirts of Birmingham to film our parts in the video for Sleepwalkers. If this is the first you have heard about this then skip back a few posts and read away.

I still cant say much about what the video is about or what happening within this 3 and half minutes of goldenness due to Chris, our director, swearing us to secrecy. That being said there are a few pictures below that will keep you going. The video will be finished and ready for public consumption next Friday so please come back and take a look.


The video was all planned out last week by the film crew whilst we had glorious sunshine and outdoor shots were going to feature very heavily, so imagine our face when we awoke to rain. Still, we had one day to shoot so wet were where to get (that rhymes). We arrived at the directors parents house around 10am as the shooting locations were just around the corner. After a few cups of coffee to wipe away the cobwebs we made our way down to the first location to start the masterpiece.


I wont bore everyone with a minute by minute account of the day but needless to say great fun was had by all. Michael played the lead character in the video and his actors skills shone out. His Drama award in year 8 came in handy. Comparisons to Pacino (Al), DeNiro (Robert), Washington (Denzel) and Warwick (Davis) were being banded round the set. My part was that of a lead singer, singing into the camera. I had to dig deep to find the character but pulled it out in the end.



We took our camera with us and will be putting together a short “making of the video” which will be available to view with the main video next Friday.


We would like to thank Chris, Ben, Dave, Serf and Chris' parents for a great day but we are not going to until we see the finished video as they still have time to cock it up in the edit suit :) No but seriously cheers guys.

Dedication to the cause

So we're recording a music video Saturday. It'll be an ace video I know, after seeing the guys other work. I can't really say much about the concept but I will say that I have not had a shave since Saturday. If I were Jonathan that would not be a problem as he can grow as much hair as Gail Porter, but mine is a mass of itchy ginger/blonde/black. I have also been practising several faces in the mirror. All will become clear next Friday.
We both also have a 4 day trip to Spain in between which is nice.
M x

Music video coming in under two weeks

Wow what a long and great weekend us Rise boys have had.

FRIDAY:
A couple of weeks ago I put our name forward for a competition based in Birmingham called “2Weeks 2Make It”. Essentially bands get teamed up with video teams and basically have two weeks to make a video. On Wednesday of last week we received an email to say our band had been chosen and we were to meet in Birmingham on Friday night to be paired with video team. The meeting went well and we were teamed with three young guys who we could tell instantly knew what they were talking about and we felt in good hands. We put forward 'I gave up the world' (available as a FREE download at http://www.barricadesrise.bandcamp.com ) and Sleepwalkers from last years début album 'You and Your Adored (Also available from our Bandcamp store). We felt both songs could be singles and as we were getting a FREE video we should pick a song we can shove down everyone's throat. Contact details were swapped and we arranged to meet in Birmingham today (Sunday) to finalise the idea of the video

Michael at the Video Meet

SATURDAY
With a morning haircut already sorted by midday the wife and I hit ASDA to grab some beers for an afternoon BBQ round Michaels. Not much more to say about the day than, good food, amazing weather, great company and lots of beers. Leaving Michael's around 9 with a crate of Bud sloshing inside and two Ibuprofen dissolving within it, I collapsed on the Sofa until 7 in the morning.


SUNDAY
With an early rise and no hangover insight I gathered my thoughts, caught up on a little TV and then set off with Michael to the Flapper pub in Birmingham. We met up with Chris who will be directing the video and he had come up with an amazing concept for a video for Sleepwalkers. He had us at hello, so to speak, and that was that. The other two members of the video team (Dave and Surf) joined us an hour later and we discussed the do's and don'ts of the filming day and what to bring and wear. Due to other commitments in the Barricades camp we only have next Saturday to do all the filming that is required. We can't say what will happen in the video yet but all will be revealed by a week on Friday as the deadline for submission is 7pm on that very day. We left Birmingham feeling great and excited with Mr Elvis Perkins carrying us along the M6.

The Video Team (left to right) Chris, Surf and Dave

Despite us only releasing the No Love Lost EP a month back (remember that's the FREE EP you can get from our Bandcamp store) we feel we should do a little something to coincide with the Video. First thoughts are a FREE download of Sleepwalkers along with a special alternative version and a brand new tune. That should be ready and waiting for download along with the first internet viewing of the video on 4th June.

Anyway, keep checking back to see what is happening.

Cheers All

Jonathan

Olives Bar, Leicester 21/5/10 - review

It was our third time at Leicester’s Olive Bar. It’s a nice little place and always treated us well so we were looking forward to playing. It was also our last gig before Michael gets married and probably the last gig before August so we wanted to go out on a high.

With a renewed optomism about the band we covered the tables with flyers and email sign up sheets and had a chat with a few familiar faces. We were meant to be playing third on the bill but with one act not turning up we hit the stage earlier than expected. We felt we nailed the set and played for around half an hour. The last few gigs have felt like there is a new energy in the set and I can only hope that comes across to the audience.

A few album sales later and loads of names on our sign up sheet we headed home with ideas of what we should be doing for the band swimming round our head.

Birmingham beckons tonight for the 2weeks 2make it meeting of which we will explain better once we return.

Jonathan

What does the future hold?

That is the question I've been asking myself. Us Rise boys have been playing together for over a decade in various different adventures and I've loved more or less all of it. I can honestly see myself continuing for another 10 years with Mr Coates. So what will happen in those years to come?
Although we try to get on the next rung of the ladder, the last 3 months has seen us record instead of pushing You and Your Adored into the faces and hands of the people in the 'Biz'. Should we concentrate on YAYA completely for the next year and really just exhaust it? Or should we continue to write new material and release it (free I might add) every few months or so? The first choice will take a lot of extra input from both of us and will pretty much be a full time job, and as we both have a full time job each, it's so hard to give that much time to BR, but perhaps we could give a little more than we actually do. Not counting playing gigs, we only really meet up for about 5 hours a week to do band stuff. Alone we do things for the band too individually but there is a tendancy to get distracted. But then the reward for doing this could be huge.
The second option is more rewarding for us personally. Since getting my own studio set-up I have been able to write a load of songs, one of which made it onto No Love Lost (Brakes), and writing and playing new songs is the natural progression of a band. You can't play the same songs for ever, we made that mistake with previous ventures and got bored and moved on. Barricades Rise is a fluid product since releasing YAYA, new songs have been recorded and we probably have enough songs, complete and in demo form, to release at least 1 new album maybe even 2, but we pick the best and continue along the unknown path.
I, and I know Jonathan too, are happy to release a few EP's a year for the forseeable future, then when we feel like it, we'll do another album. Now this way might not get us on the next rung of the ladder but it is the most rewarding for us, seeing how many people downloaded No Love Lost in the first 3 days was pretty cool, and gaining new fans at gigs, and thus more downloads, gets our music out to more people. As a music fan, I would much rather receive a few releases a year than just the one. Isn't the point of a band to get the music out to the public. If we pushed YAYA hard we could, but releasing new stuff deffinately gets my vote.
I think at this very moment in time, I am excited by recording new music and playing it at gigs, unlike a year ago where we had around 8 songs and every gig we would do the same songs but shift them around, now, with the new material, we could play vastly different sets. And that's what I love about it.
There is also the idea of adding new instruments, a mandolin and harmonica are the latest introductions to our world, with the ukulele being on half our tracks already (listen to YAYA and see if you can hear it, seriously I think it's on about 5 tracks).
I've gone off on one a bit but it was theraputic and am looking forward to playing loads of new songs in the future, lets hope that the head of EMI is in the room when we do.

Coxs Yard, Stratford, 13/05/2010 - Review

Not a bad gig, not a great one. There was another two piece band called Say Yes More that impressed us, nice harmonies and nice guys too. There were also the usual forgettable singer songwriters. We played about 10.00 and started well, broke a string on the third song but stumbled through the rest of the set. The audience seemed to appreciate that we were one string down and got on our side. All in all it was an average performance. I'd give it a 3/5 (sticking with the ratings system) although it was extortionate prices, £3.20 for a beer!
It was also really nice that we again had someone come especially to see us. It's what we do it for and hope to snare a few more in the future.
One gig left, next Thursday at Olive's in Leicester, before I get married.

On another note, I received my harmonica yesterday and it's already found itself into one of my songs.

M x

Royal Oak, Kenilworth 9/5/10 - review

Third time we played this venue. It's small and intimate, with all three times around 20-30 people there. There was a 15 girl on before us who had a cracking voice (Eleanor Madeline - http://www.myspace.com/eleanormadeline), we took to the stage about 9.30. Played 6 or 7 songs, 2 from the new ep (from www.barricadesrise.bandcamp.com) hung around to listen to Andrea and her songs about pictures. All in all it was a nice way to spend a Sunday evening. Rating 4/5 (Might start rating the gigs, then make a pie chart or graph showing venue x songs x people / beer and crisps = rating)
Think I may well get a harmonica brace too, my songs seem to be going a bit folky, and with a mandolin and ukulele on hand it might be nice to try new things.
Only 2 more gigs left til I get married. This Thursday we're playing Cox's Yard in Stratford then next Thursday it's Olives in Leicester.

M

IS THIS THE END?

Is this the end of Barricades Rise? That’s the question being asked here today.
Why is this question even on our lips? Why would we throw away the greatest unsigned acoustic duo ever to contain two lads from the beaten tracks? Will the world survive?

I (Jonathan) found out at around 10pm last night that Michael and myself are on opposing sides in terms of our voting and support for the political parties at the current General election. I will not say which parties we have voted for as that is a personal matter however I will say that neither of us voted for the BNP.

How we will struggle on sharing a stage I do not know. I haven’t been able to look Michael in the eye since finding this out. I must admit I haven’t seen him in person so that has helped, however I do carry a picture of him upon my person and I just can’t look at it. It sickens me to think we have joked together, shared food together and even bunked down next to each other. At high school we often kissed the same girls.

Before Michaels revelation I believed we were on the same page when it came to politics (Page one of Politics for Dummies). Political debates were a staple part of our conversations. Many nights we spent talking until the early hours discussing the burning issues of politics such as Why is Labour Red and Conservatives Blue? Who is the Prime minister? Can I get a rewind? What is a rewind? What happened to Craig David?

I think the next step for us is to just get in a room together and have this out, however when two great minds collide the results could be shattering. If we find we can still work together then how will this affect the music? Will we be hiding political messages within songs? Will the backwards vocals in my new songs really say “Michael votes for kiddy fiddlers” when reversed.

Although the future looks bleak for the Barricade Boys only time will tell if they can put there political views to one side. It is hard to believe this news has broken only a week after our FREE download EP ‘No Love Lost’ was released and can be downloaded directly from http://www.barricadesrise.bandcamp.com
People are already listening to the tracks off ‘No Love Lost’ to see if there were any early warning signs of this internal political fracture. “What is Jonathan actually preaching about in ‘The Preacher’?” is one question that is on the minds of the public. In ‘Brakes “Who is Michael bumming in the rushes all care free and like?”

These questions regarding past music and the future of the bands will continue to be asked and our personal lives dragged through the mud until all is laid bare. I hope we can sort something out and get past these differences before we self destruct. Rumours of Michael taking to drugs due to this conflict are not confirmed and I did not spend the early ours of this morning in a Gay bar looking for a love (My wife stopped me before I could sneak out).

All I ask from you as a Barricades Rise fan is to give us some time and space to heal these wounds.

Goodnight good people
Jonathan

PS (I assume you wont take the above seriously)

This weekend

If you read the blogs below you'll realise that this weekend was of mixed fortunes.
Friday was an amazing gig, selling the most albums we ever have, meeting some really interesting people and basically having a great night. The kind of gig you wish you had every night. Unlike Saturday.
One great thing about Saturday is that my team, Nuneaton Town, got promoted after a nail biting 2-1 (after extra time) win. I was in high spirits.
I'm not going to explain how bad the gig was though, as I simply don't remember. My recollection is, we turned up, I started to drink, I acted an arse to a band I really don't like, I drank, we took to the stage, I carried on drinking, I split my lip on the mic, I woke up in Tanks' car outside my house, I woke up in bed about 9am and did not get out til 6.25pm.
We had a conversation regarding 'drinks quotas before we go on stage' on the way back, but I don't recall.
Sunday I stayed in bed and watched Casper, Cheaper by the Dozen 2, About a Boy, then I got up and went to the sofa with a chinese takeaway and watched the final 3 episodes of Fringe, then Fantastic Mr Fox the Fantastic Four. That was my Sunday. Didn't get changed, didn't go outside, and spent about an hour and half sporadically through the day hung to the toilet.
Yesterday was great, wedding stuff, finally getting things done.

Anyway, there will be no drunk playing from now on, even if the gig would have been shit anyway.

Next gig is Sunday 9th at the Royal oak in Kenilworth

M

May Ball - Derby University, Derby 01/05/2010 - Review

Now I promised Michael that he could write this blog as we drove home from this gig however when I saw him the next day he could not remember half the night due to his alcohol consumption.
In a nutshell, we were booked into playing the Acoustic stage at the Derby university May Ball and 3000 students were set to be at the event which was spread over three stages. One of the stages was being graced by Tinchy Strider, Get Cape, Wear Cape, Fly and Pendulum whilst the others were filled will local acts.

Michael drank enough beer to make us enforce a new drinking policy at gigs. Because of this drink he was a little care free with his guitar technique. I snapped a string in the second song and overall we hated every minute of stage time.

We knew this gig was going to be a shit one for us but couldn't resist taking it due to the number of people that were going to be at the event. We are not a student band. On the whole students are just not our audience and we will never be tempted again.

I knew it would be a disaster, it was a disaster, lets move on and forget about it.

Jonathan

Ditch The TV - The Maudsley, Coventry 30/04/2010 - Review

Well, it had been around a month since we took to the stage to play live due to the recording of No Love Lost. I must admit I was a little scared as last time we took a month off gigging we played awful and this night at Ditch The TV is not the night you want to play bad at. Ditch The TV is a great night where people pay to listen to music rather than talk over the acts and treat them like background music.

We arrived and watched the place fill up and had a few pints to settle those worries. What was great was the fact we sold two albums before we even played our set. Sarah Ruddick opened the evening and was received well. Next was the hosts own duo Beneva. Beneva certainly know how to write a tight pop tune and reminded me very much of the Supernaturals.

We took to the stage last to round off the night. We played a great set of tracks from YAYA a couple of covers and two tracks from No Love Lost. Despite a few minor mistakes here and there (to be expected after a month off the live circuit) we seemed to go down extremely well. The albums flew out after the set and we left on a high.

For those crazy people who have not yet downloaded our FREE EP 'No Love Lost, you can get a copy from our bandcamp store – http://www.barricadesrise.bandcamp.com

Jonathan